Going toe-to-toe with older opponents has never seemed to shake 18-year old Michael Mehl’s confidence; neither has stepping on the court with a national title on the line. And in late-April, in what would be his final national championship of his junior career, Mehl entered the NKF Devencore 2017 Canadian Junior Championships looking to make it a memorable one.
Going toe-to-toe with older opponents has never seemed to shake 18-year old Michael Mehl’s confidence; neither has stepping on the court with a national title on the line. And in late-April, in what would be his final national championship of his junior career, Mehl entered the NKF Devencore 2017 Canadian Junior Championships looking to make it a memorable one.
To say he did just that, may be a bit of an understatement. Mehl’s performance at the championship was one for the history books. First entering and winning the division at age 16 in 2015, Mehl completed an unthinkable trifecta of titles as he captured his third consecutive U19 national junior title at the 2017 event.
As product of Calgary’s World Health, Edgemont Club, Mehl’s success has come alongside his coach Jonathan Hill. The pair began working together when Mehl was nine-years-old, now almost a decade later, Hill’s student is one of the most decorated junior squash players in the nation.
“Early on, I thought there was a possibility he could win a National Title, but was not expecting five Junior National titles,” said Hill.
“He has added so many dynamics to our program, from training at our club, teaching our High-Performance program, working with juniors and adults on an individual basis, and above all, being an inspiration to all of our juniors here, at World Health.”
In the past year, Mehl made the move from Alberta to British Columbia to finish his studies at the historic and renowned Shawnigan Lake School. In doing so, he has focused on his studies all while maintaining a training regime that kept him in form to capture his history-making national title. His years of training and competitive play have also resulted in the opportunity to represent his country when he earned a spot as a member of Canada’s World Junior Men’s Team twice, at 16 years old and 18. The first Junior Men’s Worlds was in Africa in 2014 and most recently competing at the 2016 World Squash Federations World Junior Squash Championships in Bielsko-Biala, Poland. After a successful junior career, Mehl now steps into the senior ranks as a member of Squash Canada’s National Team Program’s Transition Squad. As a member of the Transition Squad, Mehl will have the opportunity to train with the top squash athletes in the nation as he prepares to join the professional ranks. Michael will be competing in the Pioneer and Dutch Junior Open events in July this summer as a player/coach and planning on finishing up his junior career with the British Junior Open next January.
Results from the 2017 Canadian Junior Championships can be found at: http://squashcanada.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=0B5066C6-BCD8-48CD-B57A-ADF9E4B706B6&draw=15
As product of Calgary’s World Health, Edgemont Club, Mehl’s success has come alongside his coach Jonathan Hill. The pair began working together when Mehl was nine-years-old, now almost a decade later, Hill’s student is one of the most decorated junior squash players in the nation.
“Early on, I thought there was a possibility he could win a National Title, but was not expecting five Junior National titles,” said Hill.
“He has added so many dynamics to our program, from training at our club, teaching our High-Performance program, working with juniors and adults on an individual basis, and above all, being an inspiration to all of our juniors here, at World Health.”
In the past year, Mehl made the move from Alberta to British Columbia to finish his studies at the historic and renowned Shawnigan Lake School. In doing so, he has focused on his studies all while maintaining a training regime that kept him in form to capture his history-making national title. His years of training and competitive play have also resulted in the opportunity to represent his country when he earned a spot as a member of Canada’s World Junior Men’s Team twice, at 16 years old and 18. The first Junior Men’s Worlds was in Africa in 2014 and most recently competing at the 2016 World Squash Federations World Junior Squash Championships in Bielsko-Biala, Poland. After a successful junior career, Mehl now steps into the senior ranks as a member of Squash Canada’s National Team Program’s Transition Squad. As a member of the Transition Squad, Mehl will have the opportunity to train with the top squash athletes in the nation as he prepares to join the professional ranks. Michael will be competing in the Pioneer and Dutch Junior Open events in July this summer as a player/coach and planning on finishing up his junior career with the British Junior Open next January.
Results from the 2017 Canadian Junior Championships can be found at: http://squashcanada.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=0B5066C6-BCD8-48CD-B57A-ADF9E4B706B6&draw=15
